Senpai
by YuukoAzmasaki
Summary: He wasn't expecting to get feelings from her. So why was he apologizing with a date to Rakuzen, making sure she got fed at the right times and holding her hand in her apartment?


Senpai

**Something I had to contribute to the sasusaku fandom because I'm a sasusaku shipper and Sasusaku is set in stone now. I'm sorry if there were parts that seemed rushed or not funny, I'm working on it. Please review, favorite and alert! Thanknyou for reading and I hope you enjoh reading this!**

**-o-**

He always had a thing for older women. Not really older women like Ms. Shizune's age, but his interests steered towards older women who were his senpai's.

Naruto always found it odd that he would have a thing for older women, considering that Sasuke did have a serious 3-year long distance relationship with a girl from Suna who is the same age as him. When Naruto found out they broke up, it was the time when Sasuke was in tears, crying his heart out as he tore every letter and souvenir she gave him during their courtship, going to such incredible lengths such as burning the photos of him with her to forget her, to scrub her off his memory like she was the stubborn plaque on the bathroom floor.

Obviously, it was not Sasuke who asked to end the relationship- it was her. Her reasons were that she didn't want to hurt Sasuke anymore with this long distance thing they had going on and she wanted him to meet other people because she was his first. There was something up, a kind of jig happening behind his back but he let the relationship end, no point in trying to rekindle a love that only he was enthusiastic about. He was okay with the whole breakup thing and respected her reasons.

Until he found out she hooked with someone else a week after their breakup.

That's when he started burning the photos and tearing every piece of paper from her apart. That was a worrying time for Naruto, because he never seemed so full of anger, so full of sadness, so full of raw emotion that it scared the crap out of Naruto. Thankfully, the whole emotional turbulence served Sasuke some good, it gave him a peace of mind and the closure he needed to get over the girl.

But then, that's when Sasuke's interests steered towards older women, or their high school senpai's. It started out with Yamanaka Ino, a blonde temptress whose family owned the largest chain of florist stores around the world. At that time he was 16 and she was 17, he was her guitarist when she sang in music class. It wasn't her voice that he fell in love with, it was their first encounter that seemed to heighten Ino's attractiveness to his eyes. She was tuning his guitar as she sang out a tune from her voice.

He was curious, no one was able to tune his guitar without referring to a piano and she seemed to do just that. He asked her how she did the whole tuning process with her voice alone.

"I just tuned it to what I thought sounded right?" She said, elegant fingers poised at the frats of the guitar. It was that simple statement, that made her the subject of his 16-year old crush. This crush didn't last long as she was in a happy relationship with another senior but it was the start of his many interests in older women.

There were many after Ino, some he took to bed, some he had serious relationships with. The most prominent female out of the whole lot was Karin and the only reason why she stood out the most was the way he broke up with her. Don't be fooled, he was not the villain in his breakup with Karin, it was Karin who was the villain in this story. It was quite a surprise to him that on one bright sunny day, he was in the gym locker room to empty his locker until he found her making out with another male in the room. Purely accidental.

At that time, he was quite popular as he was a dashing young high school student with a perfect record of A+ on every exam he's taken. It didn't help that there were rumors about him being some sex god in the bed, which he found it ridiculous because he had absolutely no experience in that type of passion and he refused to bed anyone until he was sure that the person was the right person for him.

Karin dated him just for the title, 'Sasuke's girlfriend'. She also probably dated him to find out whether the rumors were true, to which she found no answer to because he refused to have sex with her. She tried to get him drunk, which he had the alcohol tolerance of a rock. She sent some racy text messages, hoping that she could liven up the mood during one of their dinners beforehand, he ignored her sexual advances and continued having normal conversations.

His cousin laughed at Sasuke's lack of experience with the female flesh, even Itachi who was the celibate of the family was sexually promiscous behind the family's watchful eye. How Itachi managed to escape his father's stern surveillance and have sex was unknown to his little brother and Itachi did not wish to impart such knowledge to Sasuke, believing that if he did, he would be a bad influence on Sasuke.

17 year old Sasuke wanted nothing to do with that part of life, wishing to live in unadulterated bliss as he drowned himself in his books and success. Shisui would come up to him and tell him that he's missing out on all the fun and Sasuke would swat his cousin away from him.

21 year old Sasuke acknowledged that his cousin was right, that he was missing out on all the fun.

-o-

_"There is a positive guarantee that today will be greeted with sunny weather in th-!"_

"It's raining again," he remarked casually as he sat under the porch of the shop, taking a bite from one of the onigiri's he ordered to pass the time, waiting for the rain to stop. He really thought today would be his lucky day- perfectly cooked eggs, assignments done and sent in on time, canceled family dinner, all the things he would classify as the perfect weekend for him to relax. What better way to relax than eating in his favorite cafe with his favorite tea? Then it rained and he forgot to bring his umbrella.

It was 5 p.m in the afternoon and Sasuke being the momma's boy he was, texted his mom that he was stuck in one the shops because of the weather and most probably won't be back until nightfall. His mom texted back an okay and told him not to do anything that his brother wouldn't do, and Sasuke thought it was ironic.

Taking another bite, he listened to the soft pitter patter of the rain as he played an instrumental track in his earphones, watching the sky being painted a monotonous grey color from the downpour. The rain calmed him down from his built tension, let him momentarily forget the problems he has, making the world irrelevant to him for just these few hours. If only he was allowed the luxury to relax and never return to the now of the world. Well, he could but he didn't want to die just yet.

"Hello?" He jumped slightly as he unplugged the earphones out of his ears, focusing on the person who called him out.

She looked different, and he really meant different. Pastel pink hair, dewy emerald colored eyes and pink lips that never looked more tantalizingly tempting in his hormone-raged life. His heart skipped a beat, the fine hairs on his arms spiked upwards and he could feel the hot flush on his skin, it felt like he was in high school again. He was glad (and his testosterone somewhat disappointed) that she was wearing a modest-looking outfit, or he would've swept her feet off the ground and take her to the nearest hotel.

She looked at him strangely with an arched eyebrow, a confused expression that snapped him out of his personal reverie so that he could answer her greeting. "Yes?"

"I-uh.." she drawled out. A slight glare was aimed at the girl, he felt annoyed because he didn't like it when people were hesitant when talking to him. "I just thought, that uh.. whether you would mind me sitting at the same table with you."

He nodded slowly and eyed her carefully, trying to find a hint of sexual intent on her pale face. Usually, when girls wanted something from him they had this way around him - exaggerated swinging of their hips, leaning towards him a bit too much, standing beside him and brushing their elbows against him _unintentionally. _This girl did none of that but he was not going to let his guard down so easily, she might be a cunning fox in disguise.

This girl however, was staring at the rain. Dressed in an oversized grey sweater and denim three quarter jeans, she looked like she was dressed for a casual day out. He on the other hand, wore a white undershirt with a navy colored long sleeved shirt with his sleeves rolled up and a pair of denim jeans.

She was staring at the rain, legs crossed and fiddling with the japanese teacup in her hands. Those hands, he admired rather subtly, were very elegant looking. Long, slender fingers that didn't look too bony nor too fat, a pale expanse of soft and smooth-looking skin accentuated with the gentle lines of her knuckles, nails that were short and perfectly trimmed to look neat and presentable. The girls he'd been with always had their nails manicured and he was fed up with the sight of it. Though, he would tolerate French manicures because he thought they were simple yet it looked sophisticated at the same time.

He looked away, realizing that he's staring more than he should and it was rude. He hoped that she didn't notice him staring.

"So...," she spoke out slowly and exaggeratedly, like scooping honey out of a bowl. "What did you come here for?"

"Just relax," was his short reply to her. She didn't say anything after that, probably too scared to initiate conversation after he gave such a taciturn reply. So she settled with watching the rain, watched as the liquid droplets drop to the ground and made small splashes as it hit the ground.

And they stayed that way, watching the rain fall and sitting at the same table together but never talking to each other for the rest of the evening.

-o-

He made his way through the hospital hallways holding a small bouquet of yellow gerberas in his hand, his mother's favorite flower.

9 months ago, his mother had collapsed on the floor of their dining room with rice spilled all over the floor. Sasuke had arrived home from class that day and he panicked when he saw her immobile body on the floor, immediately rushing her to the hospital and calling their family doctor to come in so that they could check on her. After he called the doctor, he called his father and brother to inform them about Mikoto's admittance to the hospital.

It was obvious that Itachi had dropped everything he was doing and rushed over like a madman to the hospital - his hair slightly tousled, his breaths coming out in heavy pants and his eyes were a bit wider than normal. His father on the other hand, arrived with the same stern frown he wore every day Sasuke's seen him and seemed relax although his arms were crossed, not bothered by the fact his wife was admitted to the hospital.

After some time, their family doctor, Tsunade came out of the room and told them that Mikoto was pregnant which was a shock for the two siblings but not the father. Tsunade told them that the baby was unharmed but she also warned the three men that they needed to take better care of Mikoto as she was carrying the third child and sibling of the family. The news of their mother being pregnant was big news itself but the silent realization that their father could still get it on was much bigger news. The two sons looked to their father, expecting an explanation about this new child.

"Mother and I wanted to surprise you at dinner time tonight but this happened," he answered simply, an answer that was good enough for the siblings.

9 months after, she safely delivered a healthy baby girl with the help of Tsunade. The day the baby needed to be delivered happened on a relatively normal day, all of them were gathered around the table having their lunch as Fugaku helped Mikoto walk to the kitchen until she stopped and whispered, 'my water broke'. All of them stopped eating, looked to the floor to see whether it was wet and immediately rushed to the hospital all the while listening to Mikoto scream how painful the contractions were.

It was touching though, seeing their father hold their mother's hand through the whole journey and even when she was transferred to the bed, he was still holding her hand tightly, probably the tightest they've ever seen their father hold his mother's hand.

All of them hadn't decided on the name of the new addition to the family, but Mikoto had a list of names that she wanted to go through with everyone before deciding. Today was supposed to be that day but his father was swept into a new murder case and his brother had to fly to Sand for an emergency meeting, so that left just him to visit his mother. So there he was, sailing through the quiet hallways holding a bouquet of gerberas in his hand.

He knocked on the door before entering his mother's private ward, ignoring the incessant giggling of the nurses working at the counter.

"Okaa-san, I-"

"You have such a cute baby, Uchiha-san," he stopped in his footsteps, recognizing the familiar voice of the girl from the cafe almost a year ago. He increased the pace of his steps to make himself known and he was momentarily caught off guard because it was that woman from that cafe - Pink hair, green eyes and desirable pink lips that plagued his dreams after their brief encounter. Only, she wasn't in her sweater or denim jeans.

She was in a professional doctor's attire : white coat, white buttoned up shirt and black trousers matched with lacy, open-toed pumps. Her pink hair was different too, it was not long and curled anymore but short and shaped in a bob cut. Her green eyes were not unsure and awkward like the last time they met but they shone with a polished seriousness and determination as she examined the charts on Mikoto's condition.

He watched her, watched as she flipped the pages on the chart and smiled to Mikoto. He sat at the end of Mikoto's bed, allowing his little sister to have some space with his mother.

"She's very cute, isn't she Sasuke?" Mikoto called out, kissing the head of his little sister as she did so.

"I forgot to introduce you. Sasuke, this is Sakura, Tsunade's student. Sakura, this is my son, Sasuke," said Mikoto as she done the introduction briefly, unaware of the awkwardness between them as they reluctantly shook hands with each other. Mikoto winked at Sakura and Sakura laughed, a laugh that sounded confident unlike the girl in the cafe. He wondered if he had misinterpreted her personality the first time they met.

"Uchiha-san, I have to leave now as I have other patients to attend to but I promise I will come back later," said Sakura as she placed the charts back into the bed compartment and left the room to give them some privacy. What she didn't expect was being pulled by the hand and directly facing one Uchiha Sasuke in the hallways of the Konoha Hospital. She tried to pull away but Sasuke had an iron grip on her wrist and boy, he was not letting her go so easily. Not liking the looks the nurses were giving her, she lead Sasuke to a more discreet place to talk.

"I'm listening," she spoke the minute they were both in the hospital store room, arms crossed and tapping her leg to show her impatience at being kept from doing her job.

"I want to take you out on a date to Rakuzen."

"No apology for how easily you brushed me off at the cafe? How very Uchiha."

He winced at the insult but held his tongue, careful not to sass her out or he would miss the opportunity for a make-up date with her. But an apology never came out either and for the longest time, they stood in the store room she waiting for his apology and him gathering his courage to apologize. Eventually, she left without a word and she left him to slam his fists on the shelves holding the cleaning detergents in frustration.

He missed.

-o-

Sakura crashed in her office, 2 emergency operations and a sudden paperwork influx, she was stumped. Dead tired. Exhausted. She just wanted to go home.

That was until she saw the vase of sunflowers on her desk with a note attached to it. She turned the note over, and read what was inside. She smiled, taking off her shoes and placing her feet on her desk.

'Sorry for the cafe incident. Can I have a second chance, let's say Rakuzen on Wednesday night around 8?'

-o-

"You're an idiot, Uchiha. You know that?"

He knew it, oh he knew it very well. He knew he was a fool the minute he told Naruto about her, heck, he was an even bigger fool for even thinking to introduce his annoying blonde of a friend to Sakura. Not that he had introduced her, their meeting came unplanned and way, WAY beyond his control.

His blonde friend was snickering at him from afar, Sasuke responded with a sneer of his own hateful intensity. That's right, they were facing each other, legs propped up higher than the other, both of them sporting their individual black eye. Naruto found it funny, to see his 'pretty' face be spoiled with a purple-black mark on his eye but Sasuke told him to look at himself and fuck off. Some best friend he was.

She entered the room, this time wearing a casual three quarter sleeved t-shirt and denim jeans with a white doctor's coat she wore over it. He flickered her eyes towards the both of them for a moment before turning to Sasuke with a smile, a smile that meant she was going to tease him very soon. She had that habit of teasing people, when she wasn't sassing people out with that mouth of her's. He liked it when she sassed other people out but not him, he felt as if Shisui was talking to him instead of her when she sassed him out.

She walked over to him first, checking his vitals and making sure he was comfortable like any regular doctor would. "Care to tell me how you got that black eye?" She started the conversation with an amused smile on her face, Naruto was just dying on his side of the room trying to hold back his laughter. Sasuke wasn't so keen to tell her how, not when it was embarrassing on his part.

But, Naruto being the ass he was and always will be, began the story much to Sasuke mouthing him death threats beside Sakura, who was facing him curiously with Sasuke's charts in one hand. "It all started when Sasuke told me about this _hot _pink haired doctor he was seeing."

"Oh really now?" She eyed Sasuke with an arched eyebrow and a wicked smile tilted her pink luscious lips upwards.

Sasuke felt that he could die of embarrassment right there and then. His cheeks were heating up, he could hear his rapid heartbeat drum loudly in his ears and he knew he was blushing the color of the tomatoes he always ate, Shisui always teased Sasuke for blushing more heavily than a virginal bride on her first night. At one point, Shisui told Sasuke he was a girl and dressed him up like a girl to make him believe he actually was one.

"Go on, Uzumaki-san, I'm listening."

"But that's now why he got the black eye. You see, we had a personal bet to see who could race down Hokage mountain with a trolley first. The winner of this bet w-!"

Naruto choked on his words, suffocated by the pillow Sasuke was trying to kill him with. Naruto waved his arms around and struggled to get the pillow off his face. Naruto felt the fabric propping his leg off snap and using the opportunity, he swung his cast-wrapped leg to kick Sasuke square in the face. The move worked as it got the pillow off his face with Sasuke tumbling backwards. Now, it was Naruto's turn to counterattack and he pounced on Sasuke like a lion catching it's prey. Both of them wrestled on the floor as Sakura watched them with her arms crossed, mildly tempted to snap a photo of them like that.

Both of them must be best friends, she cleverly deduced as she brought a hand to her mouth to cover her laughter. Her attempt failed, her soft laughter broke out and she instantaneously gained the attention of the two males on the floor.

"I'm sorry, it's just that... You should look at yourselves in the mirror!" Both of them stared at her strangely, thinking what was so funny about two grown men fighting in the hospital with their broken legs?

What they didn't realize was they were looking at her in such a compromising position : Sasuke on top with shirt riding up and exposing his muscled abs while Naruto was on the bottom with his pants riding _dangerously _low on his hips. This sort of view made her feel like she as peeking through some young girl's fantasy of a threesome. She would bask in the free view but that would mean she would be stooping to a certain silver-haired teacher's standards and she wasn't going to go down just yet.

Speak of the devil, the three of them heard a knock on the door and they watched as their silver-haired teacher walked in with his orange book in his hands. "Kakashi-sensei!" All of them greeted together, to their confusion. The same question reeling through their minds, _how did they know each other? _

Kakashi didn't seem all too surprised seeing three of his students in the same room. In fact, he closed his book, stashed it in the pockets of his trousers and watched his two male students on the floor. He recalled a scene exactly like this in the second edition of Icha Icha paradise where Junko has found an epiphany on who to start a threesome with. It wasn't like his female student to be sexually involved but then again, he had no say in that part of her life.

However, for his male students, he begged to differ.

"Naruto, Sasuke... I didn't know all those competitive rivalry and bitter glares were a result of built up tension in your sex lives. I wish you wouldn't take your frustrations out on the hospital floor though."

"Are you suggesting that we're gay?"

"For each other. Maybe," he casually answered Sasuke's question. Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at their teacher, long and hard, cringing their noses till they squinted, pouting till their lips could take no more pain. Eventually, the two idiots got off each and cast heated glares to each other, earning giggles from the pink haired doctor watching them.

Sasuke leaned to the back and sighed relievingly, looks like the truth never came out and he had no intention of reminding Naruto about it or he would start blabbering again, and he would have to stab his noisy ass with a fork as a lesson. Sakura didn't seem too interested in finding out about it. In fact, she seemed to have forgotten why the fight started and preferred the comfort of their peaceful surroundings.

Good, the less curious the better.

Until Shisui came in with a chatter mouth more annoying that made Naruto's incessant saying of catchphrases seem mild.

"Sasuke, you didn't tell me you were drag racing down the Hokage mountain in a trolley!"

-o-

"I was Kakashi's student while I was in high school," she told them, munching on her spicy-flavored takoyaki.

Sasuke had told Naruto that he was meeting Sakura at lunch as they usually did after their date at Rakuzen. Sasuke didn't want to tell Naruto about this meeting because he knew Naruto would want to tag along, but Naruto had pestered him so long, begging for a lunch with the pink-haired doctor and Sasuke, well, just let Naruto tag along that one lunch time. Anything to shut him up and give him his peace of mind back.

All of them gathered around a table near a dango store near the local University, Sakura had finished her shift for her break and Sasuke had an hour before his first class of the day started. Their lunch routine was never discussed nor argued, it it just stuck at Tuesday afternoons and he didn't know how it happened. She didn't seem to mind it so he said nothing about the peculiarity of the situation.

Maybe it was coincidence, maybe it was also fate. But you know what was set in stone?

"Sakura-chan, why don't you tell us about your life?"

"Well, there's nothing much to tell really. Only that I'm 22, assistant to Tsunade herself and I'm a doctor," it was the small gap in their age that was set in stone.

-o-

He had called her after work, concerned that she was overworking herself on this cure for a new virus. She always told him that she was fine and she was a big girl that could handle sleepless nights and foodless days. He scolded her for that habit, saying that it was not healthy and he constantly brought her food and fed her to make sure she had some food in her stomach before she contracted a chronic gastric that would just have her strapped to the bed in pain all day, for a week.

When he sent food, he was faced with a thing that he hated the most : giggling nurses. Everytime he walked through those automatic sliding doors and waited for the elevator, he could feel the nurses stare at him and he could hear them talking about him, hear them giggling about how dreamy he was and how they wanted him for a boyfriend. Why settle for less when you have him walking in and out of the hospital, right? There were many opportunities for one of these nurses to chat him up and ask him to a dinner or two, but he made it clear one day when one of the nurses asked him, that he was not interested in going out with any of them or anyone.

He thought saying those harsh words would get them off his back, but it fueled their determination more, made them more daring to ask him out and each day he could hear them betting on who could steal his heart away. So he stopped going through the front and made his way to Sakura's office through the back. He came around lunch hour, which was also the time when Sakura took an hour's break from straining her eyes and brain for a cure. It was also a time when he would force feed her and she could do nothing but comply, he drilled her to eat like a military sergeant and she old him that he was annoying when he was acting like one.

Sasuke smirked at that sentence, good. At least she knew he was serious when he said she should take care of her health better. For a doctor who often scolded other people to take care of their health, she sure knew how to not take care of her's.

But this time, they were not at the hospital, they were at her house. Tsunade had called him up and told him she collapsed from exhaustion. Ironically, that afternoon when she collapsed from exhaustion was the day he didn't come around to feed her. Nonetheless, he swiftly drove to the hospital and carried her out of it, bringing her back to her home as per instructions of the ma'am herself.

Finding her apartment was easy because it was the building beside the hospital. It was finding her keys in her pocket as he carried her that was a chore. Luckily for him, that was the time she woke up or say something to help distract him from the embarrassment of going through her pockets. One more stroke of luck, she also spared from more embarrassment as she took our the keys herself and fumbled to get the door open. Once she swung the door open, she let her body fall to the ground, landing face flat to the ground with her arms stretched out on the floor.

He huffed out in annoyance and hooked one arm around her back and another around the back of her knees, carrying her to her bedroom like she was a bride. If only she was his bride, he thought unconciously before he brushed it off, face as red as a beetroot.

He placed her gently on the bed, careful not to wake up or else she would give him a mouthful about how much she needed sleep. He had the experience of her temper once and he wasn't someone to try anger someone like her, not when she threatened death with a scalpel straight to his face. He tucked her in and turned the air-conditioning of her room with a press of a button on air-conditioner remote. He got up from the soft bed and head over to the door, ready to leave because he's done his job.

"Wait."

He turned around to her calling, surprised to see her awake (or barely awake with half opened eyes) and sitting up from her bed like a stubborn child. He sat beside her on the bed and looked at her for answers. She sleepily looked his way and he swore, she never looked more sexier in his life. God damn, his hormones were acting up again!

"Go to sleep, Sakura," he ordered simply.

"No."

"Just go to sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

"I want to stay awake. I want to talk to you..." she finished quietly, unsure how he would take her bold answer. She waited for the military sergeant inside him yell at her for not following orders and shut her eyes tightly so that she couldn't see the scary face he made. Instead, she felt two fingertips poke her on the forehead and laugh, a deep and smooth laugh that she's never heard from him before.

"You're childish," he said and he could feel her wince, hurt from his statement. But his fingers shyly creep onto her own, slowly tangling itself with her's and rubbing soothing circles on her hand. She huddled closer towards him and rested her head on his chest, hearing his slow heartbeat calm her down and lull her into a state of unconciousness while he watched her slowly close her eyes and relax, finally asleep.

Her hand, her grip was tight, as if she didn't want him to go and he, he didn't want to go either.

-o-

The afternoon the following day, he stayed with her. Both of them were on the couch, he was sitting uprigbt and reading a book about law while she had her head plopped on his strong thighs and a medical textbook in her hands. Both of them had stayed like that for some time after breakfast, neither of them complained about how close they were. Even Sasuke was surprised that he didn't lash out at her about personal space and instead, he allowed her to take some space on his thighs without a word to protest or a huff to show his discomfort.

He liked having her on his thighs, gave him a better view of her face. She flashed a pearly smile at him and he poked her on the forehead, both of them laughing because of the strangeness of the situation.

They were both in her apartment, she had her head on his lap, and the both of them were holding each other's hands the whole time. Sometimes, you don't need fierce proclamations of love or overexaggerated actions to show how much you care. Sometimes, when the heart knows, simple moments like these are all you need.

-o-

He remembered her, a distant senpai from his 16 year old days in Konoha High. She didn't exactly 'shine' out like the rest of her peers in her group - Ino was the star of the cheerleader team, Hinata was the sweetheart of the school, Tenten was the famous athlete that won national gold medals and skyrocketed the school's reputation. Sakura, he didn't know where she was categorized nor, did he know she existed until now.

His mind flickered for a moment, actually there was a memory of her, a moment where she appealed through the monotonous hallways and dull crowds of students. It was Valentine's day, the day where she received the most attention because she received the largest amount of chocolate when compared to every popular girl in the school, even Ino. He faintly remembered hearing his brother giving her some Valentine's chocolate, even Shisui did when he was the substitute teacher in that school.

Shisui was smitten with her. Sasuke remembered the day Shisui came back from his first day of work at school, he came back with a lighthearted expression and a jingle to his steps, the most happiest the family has seen him and Shisui was always happy. Shisui fixed up dinner that night, and he was talking about how he met the most prettiest girl in his life and how he plans on settling with her. At first, all of them (Mikoto, him and Itachi) didn't know that he had the hots for a high school student until the word 'graduate' came into the sentence.

He didn't tell them her name either. All they knew from Shisui's bland description was that she had a really striking appearance.

Sasuke found out that it was Sakura when he passed by an empty classroom and saw the both of them there. Shisui was in his professional teacher getup - navy colored tie, white dress shirt and black trousers while she was in the regular school uniform. He had a bouquet of roses in his hands and he passed them over to her. She looked up at him, green eyes wide with surprise and she had a romantic glow cast on her face, her youthful beauty accentuated even more.

He started talking to her, and Sasuke was positive that Shisui was confessing to her as Shisui wasn't the type to just sit around and drop hints. He was straightforward, truthful and most of all, sincere. Sakura, staggered slightly to the back, a blush appearing on her cheeks with her fingers gripping the bouquet tightly and her lips forming an 'o'. Both of them stood there, Shisui was looking at her while she held her gaze to the floor, silent. Sasuke left after that because he felt that this scene was too clichéd and she was taking too long in giving her answer.

After all those years, he didn't know her answer. Shisui never bothered to tell them her answer, but Sasuke suspected that he still had a crush on her, waiting for her to accept him into her life as her lover. His suspicion proved to be true when he found Shisui in the kitchen with her, making chocolate truffles for Valentine's day.

They were both laughing with their hands dirtied with chocolate and their cheeks smeared with it, looking like intimate lovers having a great time with each other. Sasuke walked away, feeling something boiling in his guts as his fists clenched and unclenched, as if they were ready to punch someone. He knew very well who he wanted to punch and goddamn, he wanted to punch the smile off Shisui's chocolate smeared face.

Fuck, he was jealous. He didn't plan on having any feelings for her but he just did. He knew this feeling started during one of their lunches when he started to notice the way her eyes sparkled as she laughed, the way the sun would shine on her face and reveal the slight freckles she had on her pale skin and most of all, he loved the way his skin would prickle, a tingling sensation when their fingers brushed against each other accidentally. It seemed like these little things about her mesmerized him, and he couldn't just stop the pleasant feelings bubbling inside him, making him combust with happiness that he would never show.

"Sakura," he heard Shisui's serious tone break the lighthearted air around them. "Have you reconsidered?"

Sasuke could hear her turn, the fabric of her skirt shifting as she did. She didn't speak for the longest time and her fingers were drumming on the porcelain baking board. Shisui didn't seem to pressure her either because he wasn't drilling her with questions, persuading her to marry him and have lovely babies together. Mikoto would be pleased, she always hinted at Sakura that she should join the family and Mikoto already picked out what wedding kimono darling Sakura should wear.

As she began to speak, Sasuke made a sharp turn and mustered all of his energy into running away from the kitchen. His hunger for an onigiri quenched and now replaced with the bitter taste of rejection. He didn't need to see or hear what she was going to say, it was a definite yes from the start and he felt a little conceited, letting his feelings run wild for this woman who chose his cousin over him.

Zo-

He didn't see her on that Tuesday, or the next Tuesday, or the next Tuesday. He avoided the shop like it was the plague. There was no point in going back there or see her. She was going to marry his cousin soon enough. The faster he got over her, the better.

He drowned himself in his assignments and work, hoping that it would tune out the pink of her hair or the green of her eyes. He managed to successfully avoid her for 2 months now, seeing as he got his own apartment near the local University which meant she couldn't find him at his house. Naruto came in almost a month ago, asking about Sakura because she went to Naruto asking about him. He said that there was nothing wrong, that Sakura was just worrying too much as he did when he came over to the hospital and fed her. He felt a bile rise up in his throat as he said her name, a horrible feeling it left as he swallowed it down.

Naruto eyed him suspiciously, Sasuke knew that Naruto did 't belive the cock story he told him but he didn't press on for the truth, much to Sasuke's relief.

But even avoiding her, was taxing on his focus. So he decided to take a trip to Mizu and have a go at one of their hotsprings because Naruto once recommended it to him, saying that 'his ass needed some hot relaxation'. He told his mother he was taking the trip and promptly left after, worried that Sakura might bump into him in the house - Soon to be _her _house.

So he arrived there, checking in and getting his room key until his chacoal eyes widened to the sight of pink coming out of the elevator. He was stunned, breathless. She looked absolutely ravishing. The bamboo patterned kimono clung to her body like it was a second skin, accentuating the small waist and generous flare of her hips that she kept hidden under her modest doctor's attire. Lord, he knew many men would turn up at the hospital with wounds just to see her perfectly shaped ass or wanted to just run their hands on that waist of her's.

He snapped his head away, no, he was not going to do this to himself. Not after he's gotten over her. He picked up the key and walked to the elevator on the opposite side she was using, avoiding her as much as he can. He was doing so well without her, if he could just avoid her now then everything would be back to normal.

"Sasuke," her voice called out to him as she tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. He pulled away, never turning her way the whole time.

"Sasuke please, tell me, what did I do wrong?" **You used me and broke my heart, **he cursed her vehemently. He pulled his arm away from her, taking his bag with him and quickly marched to the elevator so that he could get away from her. That's all he ever needed, himself and the peace of his mind. But she was determined to talk to him, to break him with the reality with the situation.

"Sasuke," she called out to him, pulling him back and forcing him to face her. "Please look at me and say something."

This look on her face: her eyes glassy with tears, her lips trembling as she spoke out, her voice croaking out as if her throat caved in on her vocal chords. He wondered how many times has she used this look on Shisui, convinced him to do anything she wanted. Sasuke turned away and jerked her arm off, entering the elevator and clenched his fists in anger. He was doing so well, getting over her but why did that one look crush his resolve? Why did she try to even talk to him? Why?!

He ran a frustrated hand through his raven locks and released a loud, angry sigh.

-o-

He finally did it, he called his mother up. He had been curious for a time and that curiosity ends now. No more petty feelings, no more foolish business. He dialed his mother's number, tapping his fingers against the wood of his table impatiently as he waited for his mother to answer her damn telephone.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun."

"Okaa-san, is Shisui getting married to Sakura?" He blurted out, nervous and jittery as he waited for the answer but the answer never came. Instead, his mother stayed silent on the line and got worried. Did she not say anything because she was afraid that she would offend him?

"Sasuke, didn't you hear? Sakura rejected Shisui."

Never has he felt so relieved hearing those words, actually said to him and not just him being hopeful that Sakura would reject his cousin. He thanked his mother and put down the phone, he took his car keys and left his apartment. He had someone to apologize to.

-o-

She didn't want to see him anymore, not with the way he treated her at the hot springs in Mizu.

She was hurt when he stopped coming to their Tuesday lunch breaks, when he didn't show up to the hospital and force feed her like a military officer, when he didn't reply her texts or told her that he was moving out of the Uchiha household but nothing could have stabbed her more than letting him into his heart, letting him hold her hand in her apartment and placing her full trust in him, thinking that he would finally be the person she wanted in life, side-by-side until all of the water dries up, the moon stopped shining and the stars fall. Then,he just had to brush her off like she was dirt.

Looks like she thought wrong, she missed.

She didn't tell Ino about the whole Sasuke dilemma or how she started having a crush on him. She didn't need to know another Uchiha problem because God only knows how guilty she felt when she rejected Shisui for Sasuke. It's not that Shisui wasn't nice or devilishly handsome, he was all of those and everything perfect. Except she couldn't trust him as much as she did Sasuke, she didn't feel her heart flutter with Shisui as she did with Sasuke. She knew, Shisui was trying to catch her attention and make her fall in love with him but she couldn't.

Not back then or even now.

Since she had both men out of her way, she could focus on her job better. She would also accept that offer to Africa to study and create a vaccine for the disease that recently broke out there. It would probably take her a few months just to reat the vaccine but she would have to remain there for the next 4 years Nd a half to keep watch over the sanitation there to ensure the children are vaccined in a proper, sterile environment. By then, she reckoned all feelings for Sasuke would have dissipated and she would have burned her ties with the Uchiha family.

No more heartbreak, just her and her work. There was nothing better tthan the sound of drowning in her work.

She swung her legs back and forth, taking a swig of the beverage she bought as she watched over the night life of Konoha. Bright lights, adults walking here and there with a worn expression on their faces, restaurants were thriving with hungry customers. Heck, she was hungry too because she didn't eat all afternoon. But her hunger didn't stop her from appreciating the contrast of the cool colors of the sky that clashed with the warm, orange color of the lights. _Beautiful, _she said to herself.

She could feel the phone in her pocket vibrate and she knows who it's from. She ran all the way to the Academy rooftop just to get away from him too because he knew too much about the places she liked to be when she was alone. Thankfully, she didn't tell him about this spot or she would've lost the most private spot closest to her heart. She hadn't told Ino about this place too, knowing that she would use a quiet place as an excuse for a rendezvous with Sai which Sakura knows, always ends up in sex.

If only Sakura had Ino's luck in settling down with a man, if only. For a moment, she felt like throwing her phone to be crushed by the bustling city life but that would be insane.

She rested her head on the cool, metal bars of the railings she sat on. She felt tired from her job but even more so with her heart aching so badly. She just wanted to get over this and stop feeling so sick with the world. It didn't help that she was awfully hungry too. Her stomach grumbled even louder, maybe 'awfully' wasn't enough to describe the hunger she felt. Maybe she could call for a pizza delivery to deliver up here, nobody's here to catch her for trespassing anyway.

She felt something slide on her thighs. She raised her head and looked down on it, _they... they look like Sasuke's food! _She turned so fast she almost gave herself a heart attack, Uchiha Sasuke, her Achilles heel was sitting closely beside her with his legs crossed and beady, hawk eyes watching her every move. How she didn't hear him coming was a wonder. She felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, but she doesn't show it. Instead she sits up straight and lets the anger bubbling inside her form a glare of her own heated intensity.

"Fuck off, Uchiha," she cussed out at him. She pushed his food away and stood up, leaving as fast as her legs can take her and hopefully they were faster than Sasuke's. Which they weren't to her disappointment as he blocked her exit route, the only route that enabled her to leave him. She stayed where she was, head held high and her eyes leveled to match his own. She wouldn't back down, not when he left her so easily.

"I'm listening Uchiha, unless you have nothing to tell me," she spat out, feeling a sense of irony as his silence fills the air between them. It was just like the way they met at the hospital - both of them were in an enclosed area, she was waiting for his answer but he didn't say a word until he gave her sunflowers and a promised date to Rakuzen. This time, she wouldn't make that mistake. This time there were no more dates, no more 'us' for the two of them.

"Look, I know that we were a mistake," she saw a flicker of pain but she continued. "It would better for us to part as friends or rather, not talk at all. I had a very tiring day, Uchiha. So let me through."

But he didn't move and that's what frustrated her. He was pig-headed, selfish and careless about the feelings of others. If she could punch the living fuck out of him, it would be her pleasure. He looked at her, and looked like he wanted to talk so she restrained herself, reserved the fists for after the talking.

"I thought you and Shisui were getting married. That's why I stayed awa-!" He couldn't even finish his sentence and Sakura already swung a mighty fist at him, making him fall over and sport a large, red-looking bruise on his cheek. She looked, no GLARED at Sasuke from above with her breathing hard in heavy pants while her fists clenched and unclenched due to the anger she felt. She was not angry now, she was livid and the worst part of it all was, she was crying hot tears down her face.

Her tears weren't tears of anger- they were tears of relief, joy, happiness. All that time she spent mulling about whether Sasuke had loved her or what she had done wrong could finally be erased from her mind. Sasuke, he... he loved her all this time. But he deserved the punch and bruise for treating her so badly.

And for Sasuke, he felt relieved to see Sakura laughing as she wiped her tears away, hiding her face away so he couldn't see. Try as she may, but he could see the liquid glisten in the night as her body rocked with her sobs that didn't stop. He came closer to her and engulfed her in a warm hug, wrapling his arms tightly around her small frame as his lips kissed the crown of her head to show her that he missed her, craved her, loved her. Sakura relaxed into her touch, her crying subsiding as her own arms snaked around his waist so that she could reciprocate his affection for her.

"Sakura, I'm sorry for... what I've done. I know it was horrible, it was stupid and I want a second chance, a second chance to gain your trust again," he whispered into her ears. She didn't say anything but leaned further into his touch. He didn't need a second chance, not when he already gained it back with one sentence. But she wouldn't mind starting the whole dating process with him again. As long as he was there to hold her hand, then everything didn't matter anymore. As for Sasuke, there was one thing in his mind that he needed to say.

"Looks like... I'm dating my senpai again."

-o-

**Kinda got inspired by my little crush on a senpai I have even though she's like one year older than me, but she's an amazing senpai and I couldn't have asked for a better one.**


End file.
